[Game Thread] The Adventure Starts

[Theomniadept]

Surprised by the assault, Simon quickly stands up and reaches for his wooden carving of the sun. "M-monsters...the undead no less...what has happened to this holy ground?" Simon channels the raw power of positive energy, but after focusing he completely fails at channeling any energy at all. "Focus, Simon! First the body, now this? What's going on with me?"

OOC Initiative. Turn Undead check, rolled a 1 (again). Holding position.

[Syllander]

Mother of gods! those bodies moved.

Taken back by the moving bodies Trent raises bow to late to fire as it was swinging. He takes aim at one moving in and Fires. He watches as the arrow it and appears to do nothing. Perplexed he looks at his bow curiously and draws another arrow.

[TPasq98]

The room erupts with action and the sounds of battle ring forth, amplified by the stone walls of the underground structure. With the reflexes and determination of a trained solder, Hanns immediately reacts to the zombie with destruction. The blade of his greatsword comes down hard upon the rotting corpse as it tries to rise, splitting its foul skull in two. It now lies motionless upon the table. At the same time, the Halfling witch advances with spell on tongue and releases an electrical pulse into the other zombie. The horrible crackling of electricity mixes with the smell of rotting, burnt flesh, yet the zombie is able to finish pushing itself up from the table it had been lying upon only moments before.

The initial shock of battle is now over, but it is quickly replaced by fear as the mysterious clattering sound from around the corner gets louder and louder. The source of the clattering becomes clear as three animated skeletons round the corner from the passage to the east. All are unarmored, and each wields a bow and has a quiver at its hip. The skeletal archers have arrows nocked, and one of those arrows is swathed in flame. The first two fire immediately, taking the only open shot they have. Luckily for Trent, both arrows fly wide, one of which was the flaming one.

As the first two skeleton's fire on Trent, the melee battle between the other heroes and the last remaining zombie rages on. Simon bravely comes forth to channel the power of his god, however, his inexperience shows as he loses his confidence at the last moment and his prayer to Palor goes unanswered. As the arrows wiz by Trent’s head, the ranger confidently takes aim at the last zombie and let’s loose his arrow. The shot is dead on, but the arrow must have had a defect as it flies off course at the last moment, only grazing the abomination. As tends to happen on every battlefield, even a minor wound can do great damage, as the arrow passes through the zombie's arm as it swipes at an unprepared Simon. As a result, the zombie was barely injured but was unable to follow through and its attack bounces harmlessly off the priest's armor.

Trent's pleasure at this strange turn of events is once again short lived, as the arrow from the third skeleton archer strikes him in the upper thigh. It is not a major wound and he can still make battle, but he will no doubt be in need of healing if the fight continues on much longer.

OOC Here is some information about the battlefield... Gradual Stairs : The shallow staircase leading from the foyer to the mausoleum proper descends 5 feet, but the ceiling remains level. Creatures gain a + 1 bonus on melee attack rolls against foes lower than them. Medium Statues: It costs 2 squares of movement to enter a square containing a statue, and a creature can't end its movement in a statue's square without climbing onto the statue. If broken, a statue fills its square with dense rubble (see below). Dense Rubble: Squares containing dense rubble cost 2 squares of movement to enter. Running or charging through dense rubble is impossible. Tables of Repose: When important villagers bury their dead in the mausoleum, they first lay them to rest on one of these tables. Here, friends and family stand watch or hold a wake while they or hired hands prepare their loved ones for interment. After a body has been prepared, caretakers seal it inside one of the vaults. Creatures can stand in any squares that include a table, but those squares cost 2 squares of movement to enter. A creature can jump atop a table, gaining a + 1 bonus on melee attack rolls against those on the floor. Doing so is automatic for someone who takes a move action in any of a table's squares, or it can be done as part of a larger move action with a successful DC 24 Jump check ( DC 12 with a 20 - foot running start). Round one is now over, please start round two. Hanns kills Z1 and Belenlia causes 10 hp of damage to Z2. The skeletons go after the only hero not engaged in melee, but only one hits its mark, causing 6 hp damage to Trent. New Map is up...

[Syllander]

Trent grunts at the arrow lodged in his leg and looks at the one that fired it at him.

Skeletons, There is no way I can hurt them with my arrows,

Breaking the shaft off the arrow Trent grunts with the pain from the vibration that is sent into his leg. slinging the bow over his shoulder Trent moves his pack around and digs out a crowbar as his is limping forward into the start of the rubble. There he squats down to present him as less of a Target, which he knows is harder for an archer to hit.

Trent AC 16 Hp 10/16 Location Now: squatted down at B7. EDIT FROM DM - technical question - how much does squatting help AC? Well prone gets +4 ac vs ranged, I am squatting so I would say 2, but I also am in the rubble so I would some cover bonus as well.

[Theomniadept]

OOC Kneeling provides +2 ranged AC, -2 melee AC - just out of curiosity, where did you find this?

Once more, Simon pleads to Pelor for his power. He channels his energy, and once more fails to call upon it. Panicking, he starts to mumble aloud. "What happened? Why have I lost my powers...what if I can't cast magic..." Shaking his head, he notices more undead have appeared, and his heart rate increases drastically. "More!? I can't take them, my powers are gone! What happened, Pelor! Why has the sun failed me!?"

OOC Turn undead, rolled another natural one. Don't worry about the discrepancy between modifiers, the last time I forgot to add the +2 synergy from Knowledge religion, but it still changes nothing. 7 turn attempts remaining.

[Dustyahn]

Benelia makes warding gestures to keep the creature from attacking her while she tries to send burning sheets of flame from her hands and outwards into the room. As the fire sheets out she grins somewhat maniacally, Burn! Burn you rotting creatures of unlife!"

OOC She stands still and the 15' range on that will hit the skeletons from what I see. Spells left: Ray of Frost, Read magic, Detect magic, Shield, Magic Missile plus 4 lvl 1 scrolls of Burning hands and 4 Magic missile...

[TPasq98]

The melee in the middle of the room is brutal but one sided. The zombies are unable to strike their targets, even as the suppression fire from the skeletal archers rains forth. As the first zombie goes down, the other strikes out at the witch as she begins chanting a spell, but it is unable to cause enough damage to disrupt the spell. To Belenia’s surprise, just as the zombie steps up for another attack against her, it is devastated by a tremendous blow the warrior's greatsword. Without missing a beat, the Halfling witch steps over the downed zombie and releases her spell. The room abruptly lights up was the flames fan out from her hands, engulfing two of the skeletons, the third being barely scorched.

Even as their tattered clothing catches fire and burns, the animated skeletons return fire, continuing their efforts at suppression. One arrow lodges itself into the warrior’s armor, causing a moderate injury while another two fly just shy of the cleric, bouncing harmlessly off the ground. Simon was unhurt, the arrows flew close enough to cause him to lose his channel to Pelor and his prayer went unanswered yet again.

Mean while, realizing that his arrows are futile against the skeletons, Trent moves forward as far as he can and tries to get low.

OOC 5 hp of damage to Hanns, 3 hp of damage to Benelia and death to Zombie #2. The skeletons each receive minor fire damage. Trent ends the round very low to the ground, providing him with +2 AC vs. missiles and -2 AC vs. melee attacks until he moves. NEW MAP IS UP…

[Syllander]

Trent seeing his chance, now that the skeleton's attention was off of him slinks through the rubble (To B8) and Swings his crowbar at the skeleton that is near him. The weapons weight, however seems to be a problem and he comes up short with his swing. Knowing this is a problem he does his best to keep the skeleton he just swag at between him and the other two.

Trent AC:16 Hp 10/16 Standing in B8 Weapon in hand: Crowbar

[Theomniadept]

Simon's heart rate falls, and suddenly he feels in tune with his strength once more. Calmly stepping to the side he presents his symbol to the skeletons. "Wretched abominations, face the might of Pelor's light!" A wave of pure positive energy blasts forth from Simon, radiating from his body, striking the undead with incredible force. "I did it, my powers aren't gone!"

OOC Turn undead, rolled a total 18, meaning Simon, who stepped 5' to C5, turns his level +2 HD creatures at most. This means he turns any undead whose HD are 4 or less. He rolled a total of 12 for the number of HD of undead turned. That means that you start with the undead closest to Simon, subtracting their number of hit dice the number of hit dice turnable (12). Thus, each creature at least takes 1 HD from that total turning check. If Simon's level is at least double that of an undead's hit dice, that undead is not turned, it is destroyed. Turned creatures flee for 10 rounds, and if they cannot flee they cower, providing +2 to attacks against them. If Simon approaches within 10' of a turned undead, the turning is overcome, but standing within 10' and not approaching is fine. Ranged attacks do not allow them to overcome a turning, and others may attack as they want. And, finally, 6 turning attempts remaining.

[Dustyahn]

Benelia grabs one of her trust sling bullets and lets it fly at one of the skeletons down the way. "I need to keep a few spells in reserve..."

[TPasq98]

After slaying the last zombie, Hanns turns and advances on the archers. The way is blocked by rubble, but he is able to make it far enough to swing his mighty blade once more, and swing he does. It is a skillful swing for the warrior and he is successful in cutting straight through his first target, which falls immediately to the ground, broken and motionless. With a flick of the wrist and some fancy foot work, the warrior continues his swing, attempting to cleave through yet another victim. The second skeleton is too quick, however, and it deftly steps out of the way. Dropping its bow, it readies itself to launch a counter attack of its own.

That counter attack would never come, thanks to the might of Pelor. Unafraid and courageously, Simon steps fourth with a praise to the sun god. Holding his symbol firmly, the cleric channels the power of Pelor and light fills the room. To Simon’s surprise, this third attempt would be the most powerful he had felt to date. Following the familiar light was an unfamiliar, tremendous burst of power that could be felt by all within the room. The remaining two skeletons crumbled under the weight of Pelor, never to walk this world again.

OOC Great job… Award yourselves 150 xp each, plus an extra 100 xp each because I’m awesome!

[Syllander]

Replacing his crowbar Trent limps across the rubble to one of the alread dead people on the floor. He takes out his dagger and cuts a clear peice of cloth off their outfit. He takes the cloth and wraps it around the arrow wound in his leg that is still bleeding and still had a peice of the shaft sticking out of his leg. The bandage immediantly turns red from the blood loss. Feeling slightly woozy he plops to the ground with a loud *thud*.

Um I seem to been unfortant to catch and arrow the wrong way.

He lets out a weak chuckle.

[Theomniadept]

Simon lets out a sigh of relief as his confidence returns. "Whew, I don't know how but...I couldn't use my powers for some reason. Must have just been my own lack of concentration..." He sheathes his mace and begins walking towards the rubble. "I'll heal everyone before we move on, sorry I couldn't channel my powers sooner." He grabs the arrow in Trent's leg and pulls it out. A bit of pain is felt but at the same time he channels a healing spell, completely erasing any trace of the wound.

OOC I kinda wanna know how much HP everyone is missing so I can efficiently heal. I don't wanna waste a cure light wounds on two hitpoints. That being said, casting a domain use of Cure Light Wounds, healed 12 HP (max). Spells remaining: 2 Resistance (0), 2 Light (0), 1 Bless (1), 2 Shield of Faith.

[Syllander]

Trent watches as the cleric calls upon his god to heals his injuries. His hands begin to glow a soft light which passes into his leg, causing his leg to glow. The glow sent a weird tingle through this leg as the arrow slowly gets pushed up and out of his leg eventually it falls to the ground. The injury closes up behind the expelled wound and he watches as even a would be scar vanish from view. Shortly later the pain is all together gone, allowing him to stand w/ out any aid. He tests his leg out, which seems to be good as new,

Hey thank you, that arrow sure did smart a little.

He reaches out and gives the man a pat on the back befow he goes about collecting his arrow he shot and the others that the skeletons had.

[Dustyahn]

Benelia sighed softly and said, "I'm okay, but these things are taking alot out of me. Wish I hadn't drunk through my alchemist fire supplies..."

She shakes her head and then says, "Well, I still have my sling stones and some scrolls and stuff, so let's see what else is here."